Tears Of Joy Flowed For 2nd Time In A Week

Early the morning of May 8, 1945, I was among a group of American prisoners of war who boarded an Army transport in the harbor of LeHavre, France, for our return trip to the USA.

At 10 a.m., every fog horn and whistle on every ship in the harbor started blowing simultaneously, and the noise, together with the wild cheering of the troops, could be heard for miles around.

This was the second emotion-filled experience in slightly more than a week. The day of liberation in Moosburg was probably the greatest, when we saw the German flag taken down and replaced by the Stars and Stripes. It was at that instant we realized we were once again free men. There was hardly a dry eye among the thousands of men present.